


I'll keep the nightmares away

by hatandgoggles



Series: Voltron single dad AU [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Allura is an orphan with PTSD, But nobody really knows, F/M, Shiro is a war vet with PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-25
Updated: 2017-06-25
Packaged: 2018-11-19 00:01:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11301555
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hatandgoggles/pseuds/hatandgoggles
Summary: Shiro and Allura both have demons of their own, they decide it's time to help each other.





	I'll keep the nightmares away

It was just a regular afternoon. Just a routine mission.

They were delivering food and supplies to a near deserted city. As always, Shiro was behind the wheel of the truck. Matt, his best friend and interpreter, was seated next to him and Matt's dad was in the back seat.

It was _supposed_ to be just a regular afternoon. It was _supposed_ to be just a routine mission.

There was a loud crash. The windows shattered as the truck was flung onto its side. Shards and shrapnel nestled into his skin and cut through him like a warm knife through butter. He heard himself cry in pain as something heavy fell onto him and crushed his arm. It was hot. It was so intensely hot. And then, everything went black.

* * *

 

When Shiro woke again, it was from small, warm hands on his shoulders. “Dad. Dad, wake up!” Hunk hissed at his father in an attempt to not wake up his brothers. “You were having a nightmare again…”

“Nightmare…” Shiro mumbled groggily as the world around him slowly came into view. He was in his bedroom in his apartment, not in a truck in the desert. Shiro pushed those memories deep into the back of his mind and smiled sleepily as he slung the remnants of his right arm around Hunk’s shoulders. “Guess it was your turn again, huh? I’m sorry if I woke you up.”

Hunk let out an exasperated sigh as he hugged his dad. “You don’t have to say sorry about that, dad. You can’t help it. I just wanted to make sure you wouldn’t see those scary things anymore.” Hunk said, “I’ll stay with you tonight. I’ll keep the nightmares away.”

Hunk never ceased to amaze Shiro with the sheer amount of maturity the boy seemed to possess at the tender age of 9. It really didn’t seem fair to him at all. Every time something was wrong with _him_ , Hunk would be the one left in charge. Every panic attack, every seizure, every nightmare, Hunk would be the one to direct the other kids in order to make Shiro as comfortable as possible. That is, if he wasn’t doing all of those things on his own. Shiro smiled as he scooped his son up into his arm and kissed his head. “Good night, Hunk.”

“Good night, dad.”

* * *

 

“It’s just not fair.” Shiro said as he let his forehead bump against the surface of the table he and Allura were occupying in the small coffee shop, “Sometimes I can’t help but think the boys would have been better off with Lindsey and Brad. They deserve a big house with a big yard they can play in with their loving parents… Not some crummy apartment with peeling wallpaper and a traumatized war vet who wakes up everyone in a one block radius by screaming in his sleep on a regular basis.”

“Shiro,” Allura sighed “I’m sure she had a good reason she _willingly_ gave you full custody over the boys. I mean, I’ve seen you with them. It’s obvious that you love them and they love you. You’re the loving parent they really need.”

“She said she thought I’d need them more than she would… Now she and her new husband are having the babies I could never give her.”

“Come on, being salty over something you can’t change isn’t going to help anything. You have your kids who love you with all their hearts. They’ll never abandon you.”

“I know… I just want what’s best for them, and I don’t feel like I can give them that.”

Allura took his hand in both of hers. Her hands were smooth and warm, her hold somehow seemed both firm and gentle. The contact was reassuring, calming Shiro down almost instantly. She chuckled as he peeked up at her through his stark white bangs. “I promise, Shiro, we’ll find a way. You’ve got Uncle Coran and me now. You don’t have to do this alone.” She said, gently placing a kiss on his knuckles, only giggling louder as he hid his blushing face in his upper arm.

* * *

 

The fire was hot against her face. It only grew hotter as she ran closer to the inferno that was her parents’ house. Her home. She had jumped out of the car before Coran could even try to stop her. She ran, barefoot, in a circle around the house, looking for a spot, _any_ spot, that wasn’t set ablaze, but the doors, the windows, the kitty door, all were engulfed by flames.

Allura fell to her knees, clutching her stuffed mouse to her chest. Her eyes slowly grew wet from the dry air and the heavy feeling in her heart, as if it was being torn to shreds. The horrible realization that here parents were inside this ocean of flames, sent a wrecking sob through her small body.

Coran rushed to her, holding her, trying to comfort her and ease the pain, but she was already wailing over her mother and father. He soon joined her in her crying, grieving over the loss of his dearest friends.

“Mommy! Daddy!”

* * *

 

Allura jolted awake long before her alarm was meant to go off. Shiro and his family would come over later today and stay over for the weekend. She decided she might as well get up and get breakfast ready. She tied her hair in a quick bun and pulled on her robe before making her way downstairs, quietly passing by Coran’s room to make sure she didn’t wake him up.

As she rummaged through the kitchen cabinets she tried to make as little sound as possible. She poured herself a glass of orange juice, put bread in the toaster, but nothing could have prepared her for the loud gurgling noises that came from the coffee maker as she turned it on. It sounded as if the gates to Hell itself opened in her kitchen, the poor girl did everything she could to get it to quiet down, but stopped dead in her tracks as the kitchen lights flicked on.

“Nightmares again, Princess?” Coran asked. Many people had called her ‘Princess’ in a lifetime, more often than not condescendingly, but Coran had been calling her that for as long as she could remember. From him, it always sounded fond and sincere.

“W-What makes you think that?” she stammered quietly.

“You’re up making breakfast at 4.30 in the morning. Your alarm doesn’t go off for the next three hours. Besides, after living with me for eighteen years, don’t you think I ought to know you a little bit better than that?”

Allura looked down. She didn’t want to tell him he was right, but he sure wasn’t wrong either.

“All I’m asking you is to _please_ talk to someone about them. It might be a relief, you know? It doesn’t _have_ to be a therapist. It can be me, or anybody, really.”

“You know, I think I will.”

* * *

 

That afternoon she spent just like any other. Smiling, laughing, playing with the children she had come to love oh so dearly, but after dinner, when night slowly came to fall and the kids were put to bed one by one, Allura approached Shiro.

“Shiro, I need to talk to you about something… Out of everyone, I think you’d understand the most. It’s… a little personal. I hope you don’t mind.”

“I don’t mind at all.” He said with a reassuring smile. “Would you like to move this somewhere more private?”

Allura nodded and hooked her arm in his, guiding him to her bedroom. Once there, she quietly closed the door behind them and sat them both down on her bed.

“I don’t believe I’ve ever told you about my parents…”

“Allura, you don’t have to—“

“No, I know. But I want to.” She took a deep breath. “When I was seven years old, I lost my parents in a house fire, I was spending the night at Uncle Coran’s place, so he could babysit me while he worked. My parents had called him to tell him they had come home from the party they went to and would be going to bed. An hour later, we got a call from the fire department…” She choked up, tears were welling up in her eyes and threatening to spill. Shiro put a gentle hand on her knee and his arm around her shoulder, his eyes glinting with tears as well. “We went there immediately… We made it there even before the ambulance did. I just—I couldn’t believe my eyes. My parents’ house was just this ocean of fire. The fire men told us they would try to extinguish the fire from outside, but they wouldn’t be able to go in until the flames at the doors and windows would die down a little. They—“ She sobbed. “They told us they were sorry, but there was nothing they could do.”

“Come here…” Shiro whispered, and pulled her into a gentle hug. Slowly, Allura returned the embrace, wrapping her arms around his waist. She allowed herself to freely cry into his chest.

“I still have dreams about it.” She mumbled. “Nightmares, really… Coran and I are there, alone, I always try to find a way in to save them, but I never can and it _hurts_ , every time, just as much as the first. I just… I don’t know how to cope with it.”

“Do you remember the other day at the coffee shop?”

Allura nodded.

“When I have my nightmares, one of the boys always wakes me up. Then, once I’m fully awake and aware of where I am, we go back to sleep, and whoever is there with me makes sure to wake me up again when I have another dream that night. If—uh, if you don’t mind, I’d like to do the same for you.” Only when he had finished that sentence did he realize what he was _actually_ asking her; to sleep _with_ her, _in her bed_. When a palm _didn’t_ make contact with his cheek within five seconds, he pulled back and looked at her. She was smiling.

“Actually, that doesn’t sound half bad.” She laughed through her tears, and Shiro laughed with her.

That night, the two of them slept peacefully and comfortably. Not a nightmare in sight.


End file.
